In an electrical braking system for an aircraft, each braked wheel is provided with a brake having friction members, generally a stack of carbon disks stacked around a torsion tube, and electromechanical actuators carried by an actuator carrier and controlled to apply a braking force on the friction members in order to exert a braking torque on the wheel tending to slow the aircraft down.
Each electromechanical actuator is electrically powered and controlled by external control means. An actuator generally includes a pusher, an electric motor adapted to move the pusher in register with friction members, a blocking member for blocking the pusher in position, and sensors associated with the motor (position sensor, etc.) or with the pusher (force sensor, thermocouple, etc.). In order to control the electric motor, in order to actuate the blocking means, and in order to acquire the measurements taken by the sensors, the control means are connected to the actuators via a connection harness. Each actuator is fitted with a connector for receiving the harness.
The designers of braking systems or of actuators seek to make actuators that are made up of two portions that are separable: a first portion comprising the motor, the blocking member, and the sensors associated with the motor; and a second portion comprising the pusher and the sensors associated with the pusher. In the event of a failure of either one of the two portions, only the failed portion is removed, while the portion that is still operational is retained on the brake. Such a configuration presents a clear economic advantage when one of the two portions is significantly less reliable than the other.
Nevertheless, since each portion co-operates electrically with the control means, it is necessary to provide each portion with an electrical connector. A second connector is thus added to the actuator, thereby increasing its cost and making the management of interfaces and the connection harness more complex.